Lincoln Little Leaguers hope to take final step to Williamsport on Saturday

Whether it’s being able to throw strikes, smack the ball out of the park, lay down a perfect bunt or zip around the bases, each player on the Lincoln Little League All-Star team has a very important role....

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CAROLYN THORNTON
Posted Aug. 9, 2013 @ 2:53 pm

Whether it’s being able to throw strikes, smack the ball out of the park, lay down a perfect bunt or zip around the bases, each player on the Lincoln Little League All-Star team has a very important role.

“Every kid understands that they’re very valuable to the team in one way or another,” said Lincoln manager Matt Netto. “They can’t all be the pitcher. They can’t all play first. We need people to do different things, and that’s what it takes for us to be successful is the kids understanding that we’re a family. We need to back each other up and pick each other up and do whatever it is that each of us is good at.”

That has been the key throughout Lincoln’s successful run first to the 11-12-year-old District IV championship and then to the Rhode Island state championship. Thanks to what Netto describes as “a full team win” over Vermont in the semifinals, Lincoln has a shot at capturing the New England championship at the Little League East Regional tournament in Bristol, Conn. The winner of that game will make the coveted trip to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

“It’s been an amazing experience,” Netto said. “We’ve been together every second of every day for [10] days now. The coaches stay with the kids in the dormitories; the parents are not with them. So there have been some difficult moments. The coaches and the kids miss their families. But we always preach that we are a family, so we’re trying to bond. We try to keep it entertaining and fun for the kids and keep them loose. There have been lots of activities. The big thing is trading pins, and they’ve become quite the negotiators.”

The Lincoln players are veterans in the sense that almost all of them previously played on the town’s successful 10-year-old and 11-year-old All-Star teams. But playing in Bristol has been an entirely different experience.

“The crowds are very large. The games are very loud. There a lot of fans and a lot of screaming and yelling, and the competition is just incredible,” Netto said. “We’re playing against the best athletes in New England. The pitching has gone from 63 miles an hour to 74, so it’s tough to get the kids ready because most coaches don’t throw that hard. [Lincoln coach] Marty Gaughan throws batting practice, and on the first day here, he pulled a hamstring. So he can barely walk at this point, but every single day he’s been in the cages throwing as hard as he possibly can.”

Managing Lincoln at the regional tournament along with Gaughan and coach Gordon Zaniol has been an eye-opener for Netto, as well. He and his fiancée do not have any children yet, but he has gotten an education in parenting this week.

“It’s been quite the experience,” he said. “I’m learning a lot about kids and managing personalities. We’ve been trying to gauge if the kids are sleeping right, if they’re eating right. But the kids are great. They’ve behaved very, very well, and it’s a lot of fun. It’s very, very rewarding. We volunteer to do this; we don’t get paid, but you get a lot in return.”

The players have been treated like “mini-celebrities” in Bristol, he said, with their last two games and the next one to be televised.

“We can’t say enough about all the support we’ve gotten from Rhode Island,” Netto said. “I came out of the game [Wednesday] and there were 35 text messages on my phone. It’s very humbling, but it makes me very proud of what they’ve been able to do here.”

After going 3-1 in pool play, Lincoln advanced to the New England semifinals, where it faced Vermont state champion South Burlington, the team that had handed the Rhode Island champs their only loss throughout their All-Star run.

Connecticut went 4-0 in its pool and advanced to the title game with a 3-0 semifinal victory over Saco/Maremont Little League of Maine.

“I know every single one of their players is very athletic,” Netto said of the Westport ball club. “They have a lot of team speed. The pitcher we’re going to see throws 71 to 72 miles an hour. They’re a well-rounded team, very well-coached.”

Netto’s message to the players throughout the week and again heading into Saturday’s game, has been to “play with heart and play with passion.”

“I talked to them about using all the love and support that they’re getting from their parents and [the rest of their families] and the fans and carry it with you onto the field. If you give 110 percent and play as hard as you possibly can, you will never regret a thing.”